The Thunderstorm Story
by The Rabid Toenail
Summary: (One-shot) The castle with no name is plagued by a thunderstorm... and Eclipse quickly discovers that his young Lord is afraid of thunderstorms.


The Thunderstorm Story  
  
It was a cold and dreary day in the castle with no name. The birds were not singing, (although the Crusaders were still patrolling-those guys are just like the Postal Service, ne?), and all the occupants of the castle were feeling a little gloomy.  
  
The wind whistled, hammering against the windows and racing through the trees. A young, flaxen-haired Demon Lord stood on the balcony, leaning against the railing. Raenef shivered, drawing the silk of his clothes closer to him. He squinted across the vast expanse of his territory, the biting wind bringing tears to his eyes.  
  
"Rae." a voice said.  
  
Without turning around, he whispered, "There's a storm coming."  
  
When he said nothing else, Erutis turned from the door and went to search for Eclipse.  
  
*~*  
  
It's just like that night.Raenef mused.  
  
It had been dark tat night, and it had rained quite a bit. To think that on the five-year anniversary.  
  
With a sigh, he turned away from the view and stepped back into the castle and its warmth, shutting the door behind him. He then collapsed on the couch and didn't say a word to anyone, not even the Cleric staring at him, confused.  
  
Chris stood, moving in front of Raenef and waving his hands in the Demon Lord's face. Raenef didn't respond; his eyes held a glazed, faraway look, as if his mind had relocated to another dimension.  
  
Chris soon joined Erutis in the quest to find the Holy Gra.er, Eclipse.  
  
*~*  
  
Somewhere along the way, the Sword Master and the Cleric had met up, and were climbing the steps that led to the library. After searching for the beloved kitchen wend (Eclipse) in the kitchen, dining room, den, and a few random broom closets (what would he be doing in there, anyway? Giving a demonstration, maybe? Tee-hee), they were finally on the last leg of their sacred quest.  
  
"Eclipse?" Erutis asked, on the top of the stairs.  
  
Said raven-haired demon glanced up from the book he was reading, seeing the two humans.  
  
"Eclipse, there's something wrong with Raenef!" Erutis said, a little melodramatically. Chris blinked at the girl who had just yelled in his ear.  
  
"Owww." Chris grumbled.  
  
*~*  
  
The three journeyed back to the living room, only to find Raenef asleep. His cheeks were still pink from being out in the wind, and his hair was mussed, but other than that he seemed to be the normal Raenef.  
  
"Something wrong with Raenef, eh?" Eclipse grumbled, but seated himself on a chair anyway.  
  
It was a few hours later, and the sky had darkened. It had begun to rain a few minutes ago. Chris, bored, had gone to bed, and Erutis had followed suit soon after. So, that left Eclipse alone with only a sleeping Raenef, the storm, and a book to keep him company.  
  
But Eclipse wasn't complaining. He flipped the page in his book. To anyone else, the study of dark magic's affect on fruits, vegetables, and small rodents wasn't terribly engrossing, and it only barely kept Eclipse's interest. The reason being that Eclipse never knew that hamsters imploded when in contact with the Dark Arrow. He would have to test that out sometime.  
  
However, he had gotten tired of just sitting all day, so got up to stretch his legs. He staggered to the window (his foot was still asleep; bloody foot!), peering out at the blackness. A bolt of lightning raced across the inky canvas of the sky, burying itself in a tree and lodging its electrical force in the ground. The actions of the lightning were accentuated by the loud crack! of the tree being struck.  
  
The rain pounded down harder, banging against the roof and walls in violent sheets. Raenef blearily opened an eye, sleep still fogging his mind. A raucous boom of thunder shook the sky.  
  
Raenef yelped and dove into the cushions of the couch. Eclipse stared at his strangely. "Master Raenef?" he asked. He walked over to the shivering lump of pillows and lifted the cushions, exposing Raenef in his hiding place. He stared down at the blonde ponytail. "Little Master?"  
  
Raenef turned his face to look at Eclipse. His eyes were red and puffy. "I'm scared, Eclipse!" Raenef grabbed Eclipse around the waist and hugged him, crying into his shoulder.  
A puzzled Eclipse did his best to comfort his pupil, not that the best efforts of the terror of the Hangma Wars were much. "Shh.it's.all right. Just electrical discharge caused by areas of unequal pressure in the atmosphere."  
  
Despite the fact that Raenef probably didn't even know what the atmosphere was, he calmed down a little, which was good news for Eclipse's soaked robe. "S-sorry, Eclipse."  
  
Eclipse was about to lecture the little Demon Lord about how he shouldn't apologize, but decided not to; Raenef was in a strange enough emotional state, and doing that would probably just cause Raenef to say, 'How dare YOU admonish ME, VERMIN?'. He didn't like that phrase very much. It reminded him of his utter humiliation in front of Lord Aurelied (sp? The man has a strange name!), so therefore, it was bad.  
  
Raenef finally relinquished his hold on Eclipse and moved away, wiping his eyes and sniffling.  
  
"Three."  
  
"What's that?" Raenef asked.  
  
"Two."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"One."  
  
As if on cue (which it actually was, but don't tell anyone!), a loud boom of thunder shook the castle walls. Raenef whimpered, covering his ears in a vain attempt to block the sound.  
  
Eclipse removed the small hands from the boy's ears. "Calm down, little Master. You're shaking." Eclipse wondered why Lord Raenef was so terrified of thunderstorms. It didn't seem all that logical, but then again, Raenef had no idea what logic was.  
  
"Maybe you should go to bed."  
  
Raenef shook his head.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I'll have nightmares." Raenef whispered, hanging his head in shame.  
  
Eclipse lifted the boy's chin to look at him. "Even if I'm there.?"  
  
The boy's eyes lit up. "You'd stay with me?"  
  
"Of course I would, my liege," Eclipse said, patting the top of the blonde's head.  
  
"Thank you, Eclipse!" Raenef hugged him once again, this time without tears, and took Eclipse's hand.  
  
"GO!" They both shouted.  
  
Outside, the thunder boomed, but holding Eclipse's hand, Raenef wasn't afraid. Raenef climbed into his oversized bed, yawning cutely. Eclipse sat on the edge of the bed, taking out his faithful book that was still by his side through all of this.  
  
"G'night, Eclipse," Raenef said sleepily.  
"Good night," Eclipse said, but Raenef didn't hear him; he was already asleep.  
  
The rain outside died down and the next boom of thunder was the last one.  
  
The storm had subsided.  
  
AN: Err.yeah. This is.strange. I had wanted it to be incredibly cute and fluffy and sappy and waffy and all that kinda stuff, but.oh, I guess it still kinda is. Raenef's strange demeanor at the beginning? Err. the calm before the storm? I dunno. Leave me alone! It ain't my fault he's OOC. O.K., so maybe it is, but. I didn't mean to!  
  
Blehh. Please read and review. 


End file.
